Michael McCarty, a veteran stage actor, died Sept. 26, in Santa Barbara, where he was performing in a production of Amadeus. The cause was heart failure. He was 68.

Michael McCarty

Amadeus, Mr. McCarty's final credit, was an important play in his career. He also performed in the original 1980 production on Broadway.

Mr. McCarty made his Broadway debut in 1977 as an understudy in a show called Dirty Linen & New-Found-Land. In King of Hearts a year later, he graduated to a cast member.

He specialized in florid, outsized characters—some public servants, some rascals, some both at the same time. He was Mr. Bumble in a 1984 Broadway revival of the musical Oliver! and the King in Big River the next year. He was President William Howard Taft in the short-lived musical Teddy & Alice and Beadle Bamford in the 1989 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd.